Direct Debit

A direct debit is a transfer initiated by the payee, who is the recipient of the payment. Direct debits are often used for recurring payments, such as utility bills, but may also be used for one-off payments. In any case, direct debits require a pre-authorisation (mandate) from the payer.

The European Payment Council launched the SEPA direct debit schemes in November 2009, defining common rules and procedure for a core scheme (scheme for consumers and enterprises) and for business-to-business (B2B only) direct debit schemes. The latter is largely based on the core scheme, but includes specific fea-tures for payment solely between corporate entities.

Since November 2009 an unitary European direct debiting procedure exists. It can be used for EURO-payments inland as well as in all SEPA-countries Europe-wide.

Since April 2013 there is a possibility to abbreviate the objection period: intra-Austrian direct debits may be submitted not later than 1 bank-workday before the due date at the bank. Precise informations about objection periods are available at your house bank.

Creditor Identifier (CID)

The Creditor Identifier is part of the EU-wide SEPA standardisation process. In the absence of a national identification code for direct debit schemes, CIDs are issued by the Austrian National Bank.